Letter from John Paul II to Ali Agca never sent, archbishop reveals

Vatican City, Jul 6, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- John Paul II’s longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislao Dziwisz of Krakow, confirmed this week the late Pontiff had written a letter to Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who attempted to assassinate him in 1981, but never ended up sending it.
The news was reported in Poland by the newspaper Rzecpospolita and was confirmed by Archbishop Dziwisz. According to the paper, in the letter—written in Italian—John Paul II asked Agca: “Why did you shoot me, if we both believe in the only God?”

The new archbishop of Krakow confirmed the existence of the letter, which will be given to the postulator of John Paul II’s cause for beatification. “The archive is closed to third parties and will remain so until all of the material has been catalogued, which will require several years,” he said.